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Saturday, July 25, 2009

Their Bodies Don't Count

We will no longer release enemy body counts in Afghanistan:

The US military in Afghanistan has stopped releasing figures showing how many militants have been killed in fighting with US-led forces, officials said Friday.

"Indicating the number of insurgents killed has little relevance to impacting the lives of Afghans," Rear Admiral Gregory Smith said in an email to AFP.


Good. I was unhappy with this policy. As well trained as our troops are, there is always a risk with counting bodies that any running Afghan will be considered a Taliban--and any standing Afghan is a well disciplined Taliban.

We won in Iraq without issuing body counts. Why would be think it would work in Afghanistan?